Eugene LaVerdiere carefully and lovingly explains the nature of the early Church community in its relationship to the Eucharist and its sense of mission in proclaiming the Risen Lord to the world.

Fr. Eugene LaVerdiere, SSS, a member of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, is the senior editor of Emmanuel magazine and the national secretary of the Pontifical Missionary Union for the Clergy and Religious (PMU).He is also an adjunct professor of New Testament Studies at Catholic Theological Union.Since 1985, he has been a consultant for mission education of clergy and seminarians for the national office of The Society for the Propagation of the Faith.Fr. LaVerdiere holds degrees from John Carroll University, the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome, and the University of Chicago.He is also an Eleve Titulaire (Fellow) of the Ecole Biblique et Archeologique Francaise, Jerusalem.
His most recent book is Dining in the Kingdom of God, The Origins of the Eucharist According to Luke (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1994).

Differences between the narrative stories and the direct addresses of the Prophets ; How to understand the Bible.

Models of : Prophets & Narratives.Genesis and different areas of the Old Testament.Stories in the Pentateuch and from the Prophets , Prayers , Psalms , and Wisdom.

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Session 3 : The New Testament and The Early Church - Rev. Eugene LaVerdiere , SSS

We Speak of the New Testament as part of the life of the early Church ; homes where the people met ; how they spoke.Who really were these early Christians : the stories they told ; their prayers.Out of these came gospels , hopes , Paul's letters , and the others.Here we study examples of favorite scriptural passages.

Fr. Ernest Falardeau, S.S.S., presented this homily on Sunday, May 16, 2004 at St. Jean Baptiste Church, New York City, at the Mass honoring Fr. Eugene LaVerdiere for his 40th Anniversary of Ordination.

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The Scriptures for today could not be more appropriate for our reflection on this Fortieth Anniversary of Fr. Eugene LaVerdiere.

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It strikes me as significant that we reflect on the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit on this fortieth anniversary of Fr. Eugene LaVerdiere's ordination.
All of his priesthood has been spent in finding inspiration for people's lives in the Scriptures.
He has not only done creative work and writing.
He has inspired students, participants in continuing education of adults, priests and bishops in retreats, and conferences across the world.
He has left a legacy of writings on the Scripture that have established a lasting reputation among his peers.

But my purpose is not so much to laud his works as to share with you some insights into the man. Looking over these forty years I can remember Gene even before his ordination and recall how his love of Scripture was already evident as he studied in Cleveland to prepare himself for the priesthood.
It was clear he would specialize in Scripture.
With that in mind, he immediately went to Rome after ordination to study for the licentiate at the Angelicum and the Ecole Biblique de Jerusalem.
Later, he added a Ph.D. from Fordham with primary emphasis on the New Testament.
What is to be admired in Gene is his sure-footed ability to see far beyond the moment.
He understood long before others the direction of Vatican II and its implications for the life of the church.
The primary emphasis on Scripture was not something he needed to be taught.
He already absorbed it as he studied the texts and their importance.

Gene appreciates exegesis, the meaning of texts.
He is an expert in this field.
But he focused on hermeneutics - the meaning of the texts for preaching, integration in the lives of clergy and laity.
Hence his popular appeal and attraction for people of all walks of life.

In our Congregation, Gene has been a leader and one who helped to chart the course of our Province and our Congregation.
He served many terms under a number of Provincials.
He was continuously the delegate to our General Chapters during the time and work of our implementation of the Vatican Council to our Rule of Life . His wisdom, foresight and practical sense and scholarship helped him and us to move forward with a renewal that was not always understood, but always on track.

Gene is a man of peace.
He is a man of principle.
But he has always wanted the reconciliation of different views, not the exclusion of those of another point of view.
In this respect, I believe the guiding principle of the first council of Jerusalem served him well.
Unity in the essentials, freedom in non-essentials and charity in all things.

From Gene we continue to learn fidelity, loyalty, dedication, love of God, church and neighbor.
We learn perseverance and hard work.
We learn an optimism and hope for the future that continues to carry us forward.
Gene is a lover of tradition, the classics, the arts and music.
He began early on to collect the writings of the Fathers of the Church, their commentaries on the Scriptures and their contributions to understanding their teaching of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Above all, Gene is a lover of the Eucharist and has written classic works on the Eucharist in the New Testament, notably Dining in the Kingdom.

We are all aware that in the past year Gene has had to give up his teaching position at Fordham University due to primary aphasia which has curtailed his ability to speak.
But Gene continues to teach, even if not in words.
He speaks through his patience, his good humor, his interest in people and the world around him.
He continues to minister in many ways to the people of God in the parish.
I'm sure his ministry continues through the written word as well.

Father Eugene A. LaVerdiere, S.S.S.
a leading American Scripture scholar and the senior editor of Emmanuel magazine, died Nov. 20 in suburban Cleveland, Ohio.
He was 72 and had resided for many years at St. Jean Baptiste parish in Manhattan.
He was a distinguished lecturer at Fordham University and was local superior of the Blessed Sacrament community at St. Jean Baptiste prior to his retirement in 2005.He also was national secretary of the Pontifical Missionary Union for the Clergy and Religious, and was a consultant for mission education of clergy and seminarians for the National Office of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in Manhattan.He was also a provincial consultor of the American Province of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament and the director of formation.
Father LaVerdiere published scores of books and articles during a teaching and lecturing career that took him to Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and to every part of the United States.
He wrote extensively on the Gospel of Luke and also on Mark.
A special focus of his study and writing were the various meal narratives in the Gospels and in other New Testament works.